America’s favorite cake maker, Buddy Valastro of Carlo’s Bakery, can control and automate every aspect of his new 7,000-square-foot New Jersey dream home, right from his iPhone or iPad with the ELAN home control system he just installed.
America's favorite cake maker, Buddy Valastro of Carlo's Bakery, can control and automate every aspect of his new 7,000-square-foot New Jersey dream home, right from his iPhone or iPad with the ELAN home control system he just installed.
When Valastro moved in 2010, he didn't know much about home automation. He had a new music distribution system installed, but that was it. Two days after closing on the house, he was introduced to Chima Gale, owner of 360 Media Innovations, who showed him how the ELAN IP-based home control system could make his life, and his home, simpler to manage. After a short demo at the set of Valastro's television show, Gale had him hooked. They have just completed a US$100,000 installation that lets Valastro control every aspect of his home from around the globe.
"In today's world, if you don't embrace new technology, you get left behind," Valastro said. "I use appliances in my kitchens, but had never spent much time thinking about other parts of the house. So I said to myself, “I want a space-age house. I want to turn off all the lights with one button before I go to bed, and I want music playing when I walk into the kitchen in the morning.” The best thing about this system is it took no time at all to learn to use it. My family knows how to use an iPad and an iPhone, so the software feels just like any other app we use on a daily basis. Having all the systems, the heating, lighting, music and alarms, adjust themselves throughout the day has made everyday life simpler for me and my family."
And the system doesn't just turn lights and music on and off. Valastro's house is fully integrated, so he now has total mobile control over the home's 68 light switches, four-zone HVAC system, security and surveillance system with 24 cameras, whole-house audio system with 42 ELAN speakers in 17 discrete zones including the master bathroom and three-car garage, and he can even control the pool equipment.
"Nobody can deny that the adoption of home control is growing by leaps and bounds, and the home is quickly becoming an extension of our digital lives," Gale said. "The ability to help someone go from a simple dedicated music distribution system to a full-fledged home control system, accessible from anywhere in the world, is what makes today so exciting for the industry. The fact is that everyone wants home control. With the ELAN home control system, everyone can have it."
In fact, Valastro's appreciation for the ELAN control system will soon extend beyond the home, as he and Gale later this year integrate the system throughout Valastro's 35,000-square-foot command center, a high volume bakery production facility in Jersey City, New Jersey.